RED
by AmericanSecrets93
Summary: Bree was almost killed when she was 17... 4 years later she's in college and trying to forget all about it. But when she meets a tall and handsome stranger, will her past haunt her once again?
1. Chapter 1 - Bree

I remember lying in the snow, a small red line of blood dripping down my cheek, surrounded by three men. Their breath made cloudy shapes that vanished in the frosty air around us as they moved in closer towards me. The musky smell of burning leaves made me recollect what was happening; why I was here.

Mother! I could have screamed, but I didn't. I could have run, but I didn't. I just lay there, watching the winter-white sky go gray around me.

One man began to point his gun at me, casting a shadow across my face. His disturbing brown eyes looked into mine while this finger moved along the trigger.

I held on to those eyes for as long as I could, pleading and begging him not to pull the trigger.

"Come on! We have to hurry up", I heard one whisper.

Then, in a blink of an eye, they were gone.

I caught pleading and screaming but with my eyes going blurry I couldn't see anything in front of me. I tried to wipe the blur away but that didn't help at all. I then stopped and listened; nothing.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

My heart jumped as the shadow stepped towards me. I could only make out one thing; his eyes. He was looking right at me, eyes flecked brilliantly with every shade of hazel and gold. I didn't want him to look away, and he didn't. I wanted to reach out and grab hold of him, but my hands stayed curled on my chest, my arms frozen to my body.

I couldn't remember what it felt like to be alive.

Then he was gone.

There was no sun; there was no light. I was dying. I couldn't remember what the sky looked like anymore.

But I remember this: his hazel eyes.

I thought that I'd never see them again.


	2. Chapter 2 - Chase

I searing pain reached my oversensitive ears as I held on to them screaming. I didn't know where the noise was coming from but it stopped in an instant.

"Cha…. Are…. ay"?!

I couldn't make out the whole sentence as I was still paralyzed. I saw the figure running towards me. Leo; he's my stepbrother.

"Chase"! He yelled again but I was still dazed. He helped me up and walked me to the steps of the back door. I began to gain back my hearing and what was happening around me. I looked up to see a relief stricken Leo.

"Gosh dude. You almost gave me a heart attack!" I laughed.

He was never supposed to know about me and my abilities but when he did he was ecstatic.

"It's okay, Leo. I'm fine." But I wasn't. The noise I heard was a gun; a gun that had been fired a few miles away. I needed to find out what was happening. I needed to check it out.

So I got up and ran. I ran as fast as I could to my destination.

"What the hell are you doing?! You're going to miss taco night"!

I didn't hear what he was saying as I bolted towards the trees of the forest that lay a few feet behind my house. I just kept running, and running and running until I stopped. I was close. I could feel it. I began to walk farther down a huge hill, my feet crunching the snow beneath me. Then, I saw it.

While a woman lay dead a few feet away, they snatched the girl off her tire swing in the backyard and dragged her into the woods. I needed to stop this.

I slowly approached the scene, making sure I wasn't spotted as I tried not to make a lot of noise. I then hid behind a tree.

I saw it. I saw them tug on the girl's body, this way and that, wearing out the snow beneath her. I saw their hands smeared in red.

It was horrible. They were waiting for her to beg for her life as one of the men pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her. And I stopped it.

They didn't even see it coming. And I had no idea what I was doing but it needed to be done. They were screaming and pleading looking at me with horrified eyes like I was an animal ready to kill. And I did just that – BANG!

Silence. It was a beautiful silence that I couldn't imagine.

I slowly walked towards the girl, and she was looking up at the endless sky. Was she dead?

Then I saw her eyes. Awake. Alive.

The girl looked right at me, eyes holding mine; and I thought she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

I left her there; running as far away as possible.

I saw her, in a way I'd never seen anything before.


	3. Chapter 3 - Bree

It has been four years since my mother died and I still couldn't get him out of my mind. His yellowish eyes still appear in my dreams, wanting to know who this mysterious creature was. Will I ever see him again? Maybe.

It was about at least five minutes after he fled.

I remember being found by my brother, who was helping my father with paper work at his law office. He said I couldn't move. Lips numb and fingers ready to fall off; I was a bloody angel in the snow. I wanted to be okay, I didn't want to die.

And I didn't. I just kept thinking about the yellow eyes that I saw. Those eyes are what kept me alive.

My dad hasn't mentioned the incident since then, always at work; maybe trying to find out about the men that almost killed me. They found their bodies mangled a few feet away from where I lay.

Far be it from Dad to funnel his growing anxiety into something logical like spending more quality time with his daughter and son.

"Mary, do you need help with dinner?"

Mary is our cook. Dad hired her; he didn't even want to step into the kitchen after the accident. Mom always cooked in here, proud of her various different and appetizing- if you like to call escargot appetizing- dinners. I missed her. I will always miss her.

I leaned my back against the counter watching her cut the carrots for her famous and nutritious Coleslaw.

She looked up at me. Exhausted.

"I'm fine Bree, thank you".

I looked at her, eyebrows raised. "No you're not. Please let me help". I never took 'no' for an answer. Ever.

She nodded as she handed me a knife. "Chop these vegetables up. I'll finish with these carrots". I took the knife and started to chop them into tiny pieces.

Chop. Chop.

The noise made me shiver.

"Where's Adam. He should help us set the table if he wants dinner."

I nodded as I called his name. "ADAM! Get your butt down here and help us!"

I could hear his footsteps, long strides running down the stairs. He appeared by the door that connected the kitchen to the living room.

"You called?" He leaned against the door frame, his raggedy blue t-shirt and shorts clung to him due to the end of the summer heat.

I laughed, remembering all our great times together. He was two years older than me but he thinks he can still tell me what to do. I hated being told what to do. I was an independent woman who could take care of herself. I was going to be twenty-one in a month; I was so excited.

"Help me and Mary set the table for dinner".

He walked up to me as I got the dishes out of the cupboards. "I'll get that sis. You're so tiny!"

"Hey!" I yelled back. I was five foot five; average height for a girl my age. Adam was six foot one. But he still liked teasing me about it; which is what we usually did.

I pushed him a little. But he didn't budge. He was pretty fit, due to his obsession with keeping shape. He's on his universities football and basketball team.

"Get the forks," I lined the table with plates as Adam got the cutlery.

So far university was amazing. I'm on the cheer leading and the track team and I have a lot of friends. I just want to do really well in my classes. Last year I got all A's; I want to keep that consistent. I was student of the year; no tardies, no missed classes. I was also congratulated with awards for my achievements. It was great.

But there was something missing. And I wanted 'that something' to arrive soon.


	4. Chapter 4 - Chase

**I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Been really busy with school. But here is chapter four! :D Hope you guys like it. **

It was three o'clock in the afternoon and I, Chase Davenport, although the smartest person on this planet, was bored. Smartest, because I possessed both the sharpest mind since Einstein and the all-American face that everyone would love. Bored, because I felt oddly disconnected with the world.

I was twenty-one and my whole life felt like a long string of disappointment. I've never left the house. Glued to my training and work in the lab I never had any time to get an education. I needed to do something that could lift me out of this valley. I wanted to go to college. I applied to different ones a while ago trying to see if any one of them would answer back; nothing so far.

College always sounded like a great escape from a world gone mad and was the only solution to help me cope with the pressures of everyday training. There was nothing quite like calculating the quantum field between two charged particles.

Mr. Davenport always mentioned that I was brought up like this because I was supposed to be different. I was supposed to save lives.

"You're special, Chase," he used to say to me. "Being special is not common anymore."

I stared at the holographic 3D television that hovered over the living room coffee table. As I flipped through the channels vigorously I couldn't help but remember the girl again. What has it been? Four years now?

I could hear his footsteps even before he walked into the room.

"Hey Leo", I shut off the TV as he sat by me on the couch.

I turned toward him – a one year undergrad who was nerdish, strange, and a social outcast - as he sat next to me. Leo was the only person, along with Davenport and Tasha, which I could talk to.

"Your super sensitive hearing is starting to annoy me." I smirked as he slipped a hand into his pocket and retrieved a ball point pen.

Leo slapped an opened crossword magazine in his hand. You never would have guessed he was a crossword person but I had to amuse him. "You ready"?

"Sure. Let me see it."

Leo held the page up, displaying a four-inch square crossword puzzle. I made quick mental notes of the puzzle's pattern – black and white squares, numbers.

"Okay".

He withdrew the puzzle and glanced at it. "Okay, seventeen across, ten letters, clue – expropriate."

"Commandeer", I said.

Leo flipped the page, checked the answer, and continued. "Good, twenty-four across, seven letters, clue – horse back in the pack."

I considered the clue for a second. "That would be also-ran, Leo", I said in my best game show voice.

"This is why you don't have any friends," he said in monotone. "Okay, three down, five letters, clue – subdues."

"Three down? Tames."

"Final answer?"

"Tames, Leo. I'm pretty sure".

"How do you do that without looking?"

"I did look, remember? The M intersects with commandeer and the S intersects with also-ran," I said.

Leo slapped the magazine closed. "Whatever dude! I can't do this anymore."

"You always say that until you get a new magazine," I sat back folding my arms; I've won.

"Anyways," Leo glanced at me in excitement. "I've got some exciting news."

I could tell it was going to be exciting, he gets this distinct look on his face when he is about to jump up in joy. "You now the applications you sent out to Harvard, Yale and Mission?"

My eyes widened. Was he going to say what I think he's going to say?

"You got letters from all three of them in the mail," he got up off the couch and ran towards the dining room table.

I followed suit, unable to comprehend what I just heard. I grabbed them out of his hand before he could even say 'Here you go' and ran back to the couch.

"You're Welcome!"

I tuned him out as I opened all of them at the same time.

'Thank you for applying to Harvard. Congratulations…!'

'Your application has been reviewed…. Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for the Fall 2012 term.'

'Congratulations! You have been accepted into Mission for the Fall 2012 term'.

I couldn't breathe. "I've been accepted to all of them!"

"You been accepted to where?"

I looked up to see Donald and Tasha walking into the kitchen. They never knew I applied to them in the first place. Should I tell them?

"I got accepted to Harvard, Yale and Mission." Truth's out.

Donald looked up. I couldn't tell if he was just trying to say congratulations or was mad. But I think it's the latter.

"This is great Chase," Tasha ran up toward me and gave me a bruising hug. "I'm so happy for you!" Tasha was always supporting and he kind of liked having a mother figure around.

"Mom," I heard Leo say as he pulled her off of me. "Please just go do something in the kitchen."

She looked at Donald who was still in shock. I felt ashamed. I did this behind his back.

"Donald, do you have something to say to Chase"?

Silence. I've never like silence.

"Maybe I should let you guys talk things out", she said as she walked towards the hall leading to the bedrooms.

"Mr. Davenport, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner…"

"Chase, letting you go to school isn't such a good idea," he walked up to the tap to retrieve some water. "I can't risk it with your glitches especially Spike".

Ugh! Stupid Commando App!

"Oh come on Big D," Leo began. "Chase has to come; he can be like my personal bodyguard. I promise I'll watch out for him."

"Mr. Davenport, please."

He sighed briefly taking a minute to think things through. "Fine, but I better not get a call from the math teacher saying that Spike ripped out her larynx." We laughed. "Well she wouldn't be able to say anything because… Spike ripped out her larynx. Point is… just be careful and keep him out of trouble". **(I couldn't help it! I had to use this line from episode 2).**

His finger pointed at Leo.

"Hey!"


	5. Chapter 5 - Chase

**Hey guys! Sorry about the delay! I've been studying for finals and I just didn't have a chance to post Chapter 5! But all is fine! :D Enjoy. **

I'd selected Mission in part for its proximity. It wasn't in my backyard but it wasn't two thousand miles away either. I thought that I would stay close to home since I'd be needed; plus Mission seemed like a good compromise.

I crossed the West field and angled for Mission's Department of Science. My fitting jeans bunched slightly over my new Nike's as I stepped through the grass. To my right, a couple making out near the Mission fountain.

"Chase!"

I turned to see Leo run up behind me, a mustard stain showed on his 'this was supposed to be the future' T-shirt. For a nineteen year old, he still dresses as if he were fourteen.

"Hey, Leo." I slipped my hands in my pocket, raising my eyebrows. "Isn't that the same shirt you had on yesterday?"

He looked at me, then down at his shirt. "What? It's my lucky shirt."

I shook my head, unable to understand the complex mind that is Leo Dooley; even though I have the brightest mind on the planet.

He glanced ahead. "Anyhow, where you headed?"

"Quantum physics with Dr. Harley Brenan. You?"

"To the cafeteria…"

I saw that Leo was watching the couple now. I've never really had the ability to talk to a girl before, unless it was Tasha. But without fail, females would turn me into someone I really don't think I was, someone lost for words.

Leo, however, would kill to sit alone on a bench with a girl. Even though he was 'the King of the Sweet Talk', he aggressively denied the desire, of course.

Leo saw I had noticed and ducked his head. "See ya."

"See ya."

He headed off, hands deep in his pockets, head lowered.

I walked through Harney Hall, my sneakers squeaking across the shiny mosaic floor. Room 2089, Room 2090, Room 2091…

I stopped, facing Room 2092. 'This is it Chase, your chance for success and a somewhat normal life.'

I peeked through the window to the classroom, then my watch. 10:45; class had already started.

I opened the door.

There were over two hundred stadium seats in the hall, sloping from the podium up to a sound booth, and although only fifty were filled, the eyes of every occupant turned my direction. I put my hand into my pocket, pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to the professor.

He reviewed it, looking up at me occasionally. I simply smiled.

As he folded the paper, he motioned me to sit.

His raspy voice illuminated the hall, "Students, I believe we have a new student."

I'd never have guessed there was the same girl I rescued just a couple of seats away from me.

**How did you guys like it? **

**Please review and tell me how it is so far. :p **

**Chapter 6 will be up soon! I promise ;) **


	6. Chapter 6 - Unknown

The room was musty and dark but spacious; the old wooden floors were hidden by an enormous vertical rug imported from South Africa. The walls were a dark blue and with no windows the only light source came from a small lamp on a red oak desk positioned at the back of the room.

Three of his men dead at the scene four years ago and he still couldn't find who did it. How could this have happened to him? He planned these ten years in advance- no mistakes-he was sure of it. But then his plans go to shreds with one stupid mess-up?

The man poured himself a scotch, threw his head back and swallowed.

"Fuck…"

A strange blend of emotions crowded his chest- the same as every time he thought about this- a mixture of excitement and sadness that left him empty. He'd appointed three more men to try to do his dirty work for him but it was never the right time. His plan was dead.

A black nine-millimeter Browning Hi-Power lay beside his briefcase on the desk. His contact had delivered the weapon to him an hour earlier with a few other items he'd requested.

The shrill sound of the cell phone interrupted his thoughts, and he picked it up. "Yes."

"Good evening, sir." His voice was raspy and a little hard to understand due to his British accent.

"General. What have you got?"

"I've taken care of security. Every three hours, as you requested."

"Excellent."

The man paused as he downed another scotch.

"We found a possible suspect, sir. His name is Chase Davenport, an American student," said the General. "His prints were found on Jones."

A smile suddenly appeared on his lips. This was the thing about America; you could take something under their nose and they wouldn't even know what was happening.

"So, the authorities are cooperating."

He knew his team could get into the system in a snap. The best hackers in the world where under his command.

"Well done, General. Then this should be a simple matter."

"Perhaps."

There was a pause. "Will you track him?"

"Already did. He goes to Mission. No criminal record or anything like that. But the strange part is that there was no record of him until three years after he was supposed to be born."

"Interesting… find out more about him. Father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends; everything I need by six. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

The man hung up the phone, picked up his Hi-Power and left for the garage.


End file.
